Walking on Glass
by Ziggurat Rolsovitch
Summary: Orihime meets Ichigo's inner hollow. Drabble series.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own this show if I did… well… let's not go into that. Anyway… as I was saying… I don't own this show.

A/N So many people likes this... so I made it into a drabble series! Haha. ^^ Here we go.

XxXxX

It was a great day, peaceful and sunny, but today… there was nobody there to enjoy it, not there, because everyone was at a training session in Urahara's underground training area. The sessions had been proposed by Rukia to increase their team performance. It had been going well for several weeks. And Ichigo, the one that really needed to work on it, was late. As he usually was.

When Ichigo finally did enter the training area, Rukia was about to yell, but stopped suddenly and glanced at Urahara.

"Hi, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime said and Ichigo put up a rare smile, before moving to sit down cross-legged with weariness.

"Hey, Inoue." He replied. The rest of the gang were walking towards him and he sighed, damn he was tired today.

"Ichigo, what's the matter? You look awfully worn out." Urahara said.

"Yeah, I just haven't had a lot of time to rest…" Ichigo replied and Rukia and Urahara glanced at one another again, not going unnoticed by Ichigo.

_Bastard. _He heard inside his head and frowned, he thought he'd suppressed him. That was the real reason he was so worn out, but they didn't need to know about that.

_Shut up, king._He replied to the voice inside his head, inwardly smirking at the thought. It was so stupid to yell at yourself.

"Well then I suppose you're ready to get out of that body." Urahara said and the look on Ichigo's face suddenly changed.

"No, wait!" Too late, Urahara had already pushed Ichigo from his body and Rukia's Zanpakut

ō was out and pointed in his direction. A blinding light of blue, red and black went out and Ichigo was scrambling to his feet.

"The bastard!" Ichigo shouted, rubbing his head in pain.

"Ichigo, are you alright?" Rukia asked, but didn't put away her Zanpakutō.

"Yeah, the damn hollow… how did you guys know it wasn't me?" Ichigo asked, free from his hollow's control finally. When he finally raised his head he realized they weren't look at him, but behind him. Ichigo slowly turned around and his eye twitched at the growling monster right behind him.

"Ichigo…" Urahara said slowly. "Run."

"Holy friggin' crap!" Ichigo yelled and barely avoided the attack from the hollow. "What the hell is going on?"

"I knocked you out of your body right when your hollow's energy flared. I never imagined that you would separate." Urahara seemed more interested in studying then helping. "Ichigo, quick, do you still have your Zanpakutō?"

Ichigo barely avoided razor sharp claws, while Rukia slashed at the hollow's back, which healed instantly and didn't even phase the beast, the hollow turned on her and tossed her back a few feet. Luckily she wasn't injured too badly.

_Zangetsu? Are you in there?_

I am here, Ichigo.

Zangetsu replied calmly.

Ichigo nodded to himself and grabbed his Zanpakutō just in time to stop the sharp claws from slicing him in two, although he was pushed back a few inches. This thing had it out for him. Yoruichi had saved Ichigo's body, by getting it out of the training area. Who knew what would happen if it remained there any longer.

The hollow seemed to only be focused on Ichigo, so it was a plus that it wasn't after his friends. He wasn't sure what he'd do if it were. Orihime threw up a shield and protect him only for a few moments, before the hollow just broke through it.

Chad came in from the side and slammed into the hollow, tossing it far away until it hit a wall far off, leaving a cloud of dust.

"Nice shot." Ichigo panted to his friend and Chad grunted in reply. "Is that it…?"

There was silence for awhile, before there was a dull thud behind him and Ichigo realized the hollow had flash stepped right behind his back. Ichigo barely avoided the next attack. This was bad, this was really very bad.

"We need to get Ichigo out of here. The hollow seems to have a vendetta against him." Urahara noted, hand on his chin as he stood there silently observing. "Yoruichi… get the rope."

"You can't be serious." Yoruichi said, jaw dropped at his intentions, but he simply grinned. He was serious. "Chad! Follow me." She told the boy and they quickly headed up to the shop.

Meanwhile Ichigo was still barely avoiding getting torn to little tiny bits by the razor sharp claws, still trying to keep away from his inner beast, but the hollow got a lucky strike in and hit Ichigo, slashing across his leg and he was done for.

Ichigo closed his eyes as he saw the hollow raise it's clawed hand, about to finish him off, before Orihime stood in front of him, bring up a shield, that most certainly wouldn't stand up to the hollow's powers for very long.

"Inoue!" He shouted, not wanting her to be injured, but the hollow's hand twitched, frozen in the air and it growled deeply at her, tail swishing back and forth unhappily.

"This is fascinating." Urahara stated, rubbing his chin in interest.

"Stop talking and help us already!" Ichigo cried in annoyance, while the hollow was distracted staring at Orihime and giving everything to just bring up his claws and finish her, Rukia quickly tossed Ichigo out of the way, before stabbing at the hollow.

The hollow growled, but ignored Rukia and still tried to move his claws. By now Urahara had a note pad and was writing notes on it like crazy.

"Urahara help them!" Yoruichi shouted, returning with Chad and a bulk of ropes.

Breathing heavily the hollow finally lowered it's clawed hand and stared at Orihime in silence, chest heaving with al the energy it had used fighting.

"Ooo…" Urahara was writing even more down. "I understand now."

"Understand what?" Ichigo asked, while Rukia was tending to his injury. "Let's kill that thing already before it hurts her!"

"Ichigo, your hollow isn't going to hurt Inoue-san or it would have done it already." Urahara noted this with interest. "Your protective instincts must have seeped through into it."

Orihime pressed her lips together in a thin line, she was scared to be honest, but she had to keep this thing distracted or it would hurt her friends. The hollow reached out and touched the shield, the only thing keeping them separated and it seemed perturbed by it.

The hollow huffed and she could tell that it was probably going to go spiraling into a rage again, so she took the chance on Urahara's theory and let the shield down.

"Inoue!" Rukia complained, scared to death her friend would be killed.

However, the hollow was distracted and growled quietly, more like a whine then a growl. Urahara figured there was no way they were going to get close to it, especially now. Chad held onto the edge of a rope and tied it around a rock, while Yoruichi tossed it and it captured the hollow around the waist, holding it's arms against it's sides.

The hollow froze and a howl erupted from it's throat as it realized it'd been tied up, it struggled to break through the kido infused ropes, but to no avail.

"Hang on, Chad!" Yoruichi told him, quickly tossing another ropes on the hollow and holding it there as well. Urahara took his sweet time approaching the hollow, before he grinned and swung his sword into the mask. The mask cracked and broke into peaces.

The hollow's outer skin shattered and the hollow collapsed onto the ground, out cold.

"Well… there you have it." Urahara stated as Yoruichi and Chad quickly ran over to tie the hollow up before it woke up again. "So, do you want to kill it, Ichigo?"

Ichigo stared in silence at his other half, he glanced down at the ground in silence.

XxXxX

The hollow jerked awake, anger burning through his every vein. He struggled against the ropes binding his wrist behind his back, before stopping to look around and realize he was locked in a lab cell of some sort.

"The hell am I at?" He asked, growling deeply. "Let me outta here! Damnit! Let me go!"

"Oh, it's awake… Orihime… it likes you. Interact with it." Urahara said excitedly and Ichigo facepalmed in annoyance.

"You're not sending her in there with that thing! Do you want her to be killed?"

"Oh, it's perfectly fine." Urahara told Ichigo, waving a fan in front of his face. "There's no way it can break those ropes, however. We'll have to observe it for awhile until it calms down. Who wants the first shift?"

"It's your project." Yoruichi told him, before walking out. Slowly everyone left him there and he shrugged in an uncaring manner.

For the hollow, who was impatient in the first place, started to get more agitated with the more time that passed. The glass was one-way. Where they watching him like some lab rat or was he all alone? The thought alone made him shudder slightly. A lab rat.  
>He struggled against the ropes once more, but only resulted in bloodying up his wrist and rubbing them raw.<p>

"At least give me some water. Even lab rats get water." His said towards the door, growing even more weary. "Please?" He was willing to beg, he was dying of thirst for some odd reason.

Orihime winced slightly from the other room. He was like a wounded puppy scratching at the water bowl, he'd even said please. She knew she shouldn't go in there on her own, but she couldn't leave the hollow like that.

The door opened and his eye twitched slightly. The bastards were watching him like a lab rat, he didn't like this one bit. The Inoue girl entered the room very cautiously and kneeled in front of him, while bringing a bottle to his lips. He didn't like being dependent, but he was dying here, so he chugged the water down quickly.

"There…"

"Hey… you didn't get hurt, right?"

"Huh?"

"Back at Hueco Mundo." He leaned forward a little bit, but she backed up when he did.

"No… I wasn't hurt…"

"That's good."

"Why… does it matter to something like you?" She asked and he was a little taken aback, but frowned finally. 'Something like him?' did that mean a hollow?

"No reason in particular." He started to struggle with the ropes once more, but it only resulted in him falling over sideways with a growl of annoyance. "Come on… just cut the ropes."

"I can't do that." She replied quickly.

"I give my word I won't do anything bad. Come on…." He started to struggled with the ropes again, finally deciding it would do no good. "I didn't hurt you did I? Come on… trust me… I wouldn't do anything bad to you…"

She could see the blood dripping from his wrist where he kept rubbing them raw on the ropes and she didn't want to leave it like that.

"You promise you won't leave this room?"

"Of course." He snorted and she didn't like the tone of his voice just then. If he did anything she'd have to really fight him. The second the ropes were off he sighed in relief and looked down at his sore wrists, taking one in his hand and rubbing gingerly. He wouldn't instantly heal unless he was in full hollow form and that wasn't an option right now.

"Urahara-san… said not to heal you at all…" Orihime told him and he shrugged like he didn't care all that much.

"That's alright. I like pain." He informed and ignored her look of surprise. "What are they going to do with me anyway?"

"Well… Urahara-san says that he wants to keep you here, because Ichigo doesn't want to kill you."

"He doesn't? Why not?"

"I don't know." She replied and watched as he attempted to lick his injury clean. "Hey, don't do that… let me get you something to clean those…"

She quickly got up to get a kit from the other room and the hollow rolled his eyes.

"Stupid girl. Don't leave the door open." He muttered while she returned and gripped his forearm, wrapping his wrist in clean white bandages. She just couldn't stand to leave it that way, it made him laugh. "Hey, you don't have to mess with that."

"I-I know, but… your…"

"It's a hollow things. Don't concern yourself with it."

"Inoue-san, I think your shift is up." Urahara stated with good humor. Orihime nodded as Urahara stepped out of the doorframe and back out into the other room.

She was about to stand before the hollow caught her wrist.

"Hey, since I'm gonna be living here how about you come by and visit sometimes?" He asked and she was silent for a moment, before giving him a shaky smile.

"Okay, hollow-san… I'll come back and visit you." She told him, before quickly leaving the room and he grinned to himself. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back against the wall and thought… he could get used to living in Urahara's underground bunker.

XxXxX

End

Thanks for reading, God Bless and leave a review.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own this! I just wanted to borrow myself a interesting hollow with beautiful eyes.

A/N The next chapter! Tada!

XxXxX

It was a relatively busy day at the bakery and Orihime was struggling to keep up with everybody, but at least it was a nice day out.

After awhile the crowds had thinned out relatively, but still it was busy, she noticed the man at the far end of the shop, reading a news paper and adjusting his fedora slightly. She figured she'd better get his order, as he folded the paper and set it down, she froze, catching the smirk on his lips.

"Can I get you something…?"

"Yeah, you." He looked up from under the hat and she caught the glint of gold. "Hey, Hime."

"What are you doing? Did you escape?" She asked in shock, wanting not for the first time to run the other way at the sight of him.

"Nope. Kisuke let me out. Long as I was undercover. Don't worry. Nobody else can see me for what I really am. It's just you."

"Oh." Orihime stated, before glancing around. "Is there… something you wanted?"

"Nope. Not a thing. I'm just gonna sit here and stalk you." He laughed darkly and it sent shivers down her spine. The laugh was just plain evil.

"Just… stay. Wait until my shift is over and I'll take you back to Urahara-san."

"Don't worry Hime, I ain't goin' anywhere." He assured, laughing quietly as she quickly headed back to work.

The rest of her shift was spent shooting glances at the hollow just to make sure he wasn't doing something bad over there, but he hadn't moved just like he had said. It didn't make her feel much better having his golden gaze on her the entire time.

Finally her time was up and she removed her apron and was about to get over to the hollow, before a voice stopped her.

"Hey, Inoue… I had no idea you had a boyfriend now. He's a handsome guy." Her boss said, laughing a little and Orihime flushed.

"Oh, no… he's not… uhm… he's…" She paused what was he? "just my friend." Not true, he wasn't even that. He wasn't her friend, he was a hollow. Her boss' eyebrows raised, before shrugging.

Orihime sat down across from him in the booth and he laid an arm across the back, relaxing back into the seat. She frowned slightly and watched his eye take on a slightly surprised look, before it was covered up immediately.

"What?" He asked.

"Why are you here?" Orihime asked and he smirked again.

"Figure it out." The smirk slowly left as she set a finger on her chin and actually attempted to guess, he sighed deeply. "I'm here to see you, you've been away too long."

"Oh."

"Where've you been?"

"I've been so busy, I've had to work and then I've had school, oh… and I has this really hard test about this type of fish. I forget what it was called… maybe it was-"

"Fascinating." He said, leaning a hand on his chin and starting at her, she paused in the middle of her talking.

"Am I boring you?" She finally asked and he smiled, shaking his head, letting white hair fall into his eyes. "Really? Because usually everyone runs away when I start talking… or cooking."

"Well I would love to try your cooking." The hollow informed and she was a little taken aback. His voice was so much like Ichigo's, but he talked a little more gently then Ichigo did. A little higher in pitch maybe.

"You… would?"

His lips twitched up into a smile at seeing her so flustered and he nodded. "Mm-hmm." He slowly got up and offered his hand. "Let me walk you home."

Cautiously, she took his hand and when he offered his arm, she took it. He walked them out the door and Orihime barely heard her boss make some sort of comment about her boyfriend and having fun. The night was warm, with a perfectly warm breeze. The night stars were just brilliant tonight as well.

"Hollow-san… why… are you walking me home?"

"Because I can." He replied easily.

"Well why are you being so nice?"

"I feel like it."

"How come you're being so nice to _me_?" She got to the point finally.

"Why not?" He smiled and looked up at the stars.

"You're not nice to anybody else."

"I don't like anybody else."

"You like me?" Orihime asked, surprised and he simply tilted his head a little bit to the side to stare at her out of the corner of his eye.

"That's why I've gone through all this gentleman training for you." He tapped her on the nose and chuckled as she took on that shocked look of hers. Everything she did was adorable, even if he didn't entirely want to admit it.

"You went through all that for me?"

"Yes, but I will never train with Kisuke again. The old pervert." He frowned at just the thought. It was… interesting to say the least. He stopped at her building, the walk was entirely too short for him. He had wanted to talk some more. "We're here."

"So… you got advice on how to be a gentleman? From Urahara-san?"

"Yes…" He stated again. "I've done everything he told me. Except a mustache."

"Mustache? How does a mustache make you a gentleman?" She asked, still watching him and he shrugged.

"How the hell should I know?"

"Well… thank you for going through all that trouble and walking me home." Orihime quickly pressed a kiss the corner of his mouth, before blushing and running off into her apartment.

Slowly he brought a hand up to his mouth. Why did that feel so odd? He sighed and shook his head, before heading back to Urahara's, but tomorrow… tomorrow he would walk her home again. He looked up at the starry sky as he slowly headed back. What an interesting talk.

XxXxX

Thanks for reading, God Bless and leave a review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own this.

A/N Too tired to make witty comments, but this is probably the last drabble I will do for this.

XxXxX

Ichigo tapped his fingers against his desk, looking at the clock. It had been ten minutes. Ten very long minutes. Finally the door opened and the person everyone was waiting on came in.

"I'm so sorry I was late. I had a hard time waking up this morning." Orihime said, trying to put on a smile, but that didn't melt the teacher one bit.

"Take your seat." The teacher said sternly.

So she quickly made her way to her seat and sat silently, thinking about last night. She should have gone to sleep, but she ended up thinking about the hollow more then anything and before she knew it, the sky was already turning light blue with the first rays of the sun peaking through.

Most of the class she daydreamed and thought about everything that had happened the few days, she hardly noticed that class had been dismissed until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, Kurosaki-kun, I'm sorry. I was just thinking." She told him, smiling and waving it off.

"Inoue… we need to talk." He said and she could see the seriousness in his face. The smile slowly left her face and she stood as he led her outside. "Look… I don't know what's going on, but… you've been missing a lot of class. Are you spending time with my hollow?"

"Well… yes, but he's not bad at all! He's actually very kind to me." Orihime said, trying to defend her new found friend.

"If he's being nice to you then he's only after something. He never does anything for anyone else unless he's getting something in return, he's the epitome of selfishness." Ichigo stated and she wasn't really sure what to say. Ichigo wouldn't lie to her and he did live with the hollow inside his head. Wouldn't he of all people know what the hollow wanted?

"Is that what you really think, Kurosaki-kun?" She asked and he nodded, frowning. "Then… I'll stay away from your hollow."

Later that day when school was out and she was walking home, she was so lost in thought that she bumped right into somebody.

"Oh, I'm very sorry-"

"S'alight, Hime." The voice replied and she looked up to find Ichigo's hollow smiling. "You can make it up to me by walking with me for awhile."

"But… I have to do… some shopping first!" Orihime shouted the last part and he seemed a little bewildered, rubbing an ear at the sudden shout.

"That's alright. I'll go with you." The hollow replied simply and she froze, she hadn't expected that from him, but now what could she do? She looked over her shoulder to see if Ichigo was around, but he wasn't and she didn't know how she felt about this. "Oh… you're trying to ditch me… I see… that's alright… I'll just go home…"

She watched him turn away, unable to move from the spot she was frozen to, before she ran after him and hugged him around the waist.

"Wait, it's not like that!" She said and managed to stop him, but he slowly lowered a hand to her arms and pried her off him.

"No, don't lie."

"I'm not!" Orihime said quickly, holding her hands up and he looked at her over his shoulder, before turning to face her and crossing his arms over his chest, she reached up and set her hand on his forearm, sliding down to his wrist and pulled it away, so that she could take his hand. "You can come with, it's alright."

The hollow didn't speak, but allowed her to pull him with to wherever she was going. She felt guilty the entire way, since he was so abnormally quiet.

"I'm very sorry for upsetting you." She told him as they sat down on a bench under a sakura tree in a park near the group of stores she planned on going to.

"You don't have to say anything to me." The hollow informed, looking up into the branches of the tree above them. She couldn't stop think how it wasn't fair. He wasn't bad or evil, at least she didn't believe he was, so why did he have to be a hollow that was destined to destroy or be destroyed?

"Ichigo… said that you were only being nice, because you wanted something…" She admitted her reason to him and he furrowed his brow.

"He's right… I do want something." He replied and her eyes widened a bit. "What I want… is to be by your side."

"Tha… that's it?" Orihime asked in surprise.

"That's it."

She watched him silently for a few moments, and he tilted his head to one side and smiled at her. He wasn't joking about this, he was serious. She cupped his face between her hands and kissed him gently, his muscles tensed up for a moment in surprise.

Before he had a chance to react and kiss her back, she jumped up from the bench they were sitting on and grabbed his sleeve, dragging him along with her.

"Come with me. I want to take you somewhere." She told him with a smile, that smile was infectious and it made him grin right back.

She lead him to a small shop and he sat down at a table and waited for her like she told him. When she got back she handed him a small cup with a cold white substance. He glared at it.

"What's this?"

"It's ice-cream. Try some." She watched as he gave her another confused look. She picked up her spoon and offered some to him. "Here."

He grumbled, before taking a large bit. He was silent for a few minutes before he jumped up from the table and hopped from one foot to another. "Ahh, cold, cold, cold."

She giggled at him. "That's why you're supposed to take small bites, so you don't freeze your mouth."

He pouted and sat down, arms crossed over his chest. "You didn't tell me that." She was giggling even more at his pouting face and he tilted his head and glanced at her from the corner of his eye, before grinning a bit and grabbing ice-cream from the small cup and smeared it on her nose.

"Hollow-san." She giggled, wiping it away.

"There, now you see how it is." He chuckled softly. She set her hands over his on the table gently and he tilted his head, watching her do so.

"Are you sure you're a hollow?" Orihime asked in a whisper and he raised an eyebrow.

"Last time I checked." The hollow informed, still grinning.

"I really do like you, hollow-san. So please, stay by my side." She requested and his smile changed to a more gentle one.

"Of course I'll stay by your side, Hime-chan. I wouldn't want it any other way." He set his free hand over both of theirs and his grin widened. "So… I'll be here with you no matter where you go."

She smiled back at him. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, princess. I am indulging myself just by being by your side." He slowly up from the table and offered his arm and she took it. "So… where in the world are your little shopping adventures going to take us?"

"Just to the shop up ahead and then home." She replied. They walked slowly down the street together, before she spoke. "I still don't believe you're a hollow."

He just laughed lightly at her words as they continued to walk. "You're too kind, princess."

From a distant park bench Urahara watched them, waving his fan in front of his face and grinning big at them. It was most interesting to study the hollow. "Well Ichigo… looks like there's nothing you can do to keep them apart now." He commented to himself, not particularly too upset about the fact. "Kids will be kids."

XxXxX

End

Thanks for reading, leave a review and God bless~


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